Saturday, June 20, 2009

Is Avon a scam?


Alright, after the ridiculous amount of emails I have received TELLING me that Avon is a “scam” I thought it would be a good idea to explain the truth—good and bad about Avon.

First of all Avon is whatever you make it. It costs 10 dollars to start selling Avon—that’s it—and for that 10 dollars you get everything you need to do business, access to a complete online course to become an Avon Beauty Advisor, and make 20-50 percent on all sales. There are very few business opportunities that offer so much for so little—Mary Kay’s start-up kit costs $100, Tupperware cost $79.99 to begin. Basically with Avon, if you sell $20-$50 dollars worth of products you’ll make your money back—that’s 1 or 2 orders.

Honestly, if you’re calling Avon a scam you might not understand what exactly a scam is or how Avon works. Avon’s most basic strategy are catalogs that you can give to friends and family, if they would like to order anything they tell you, you place the order and when you deliver it you collect the money—It’s really simple—for that you make 20-50% of the price of each item. One woman wrote a review saying that Avon was a “scam” because she ordered an excessive amount of products and then tried to sell them at a bazaar. When she failed at selling them she tried to return them all to Avon, she was angry that Avon told her that she had to pay the shipping to return them all. She complained that she thought that Avon had a 100% money-back guarantee. Avon does, and they would refund her the cost of all the products—however the return shipping is not included. This is written directly in your Avon paperwork.


Just because she’s not smart enough to finish reading the sentence where it says that you have to pay the shipping does not make Avon a scam. It isn’t hidden, it’s not an asterisk or in tiny letters, it’s right there for anyone to see. It seems as if people read the words “100% Money-Back Guarantee” and just stop reading, then they are surprised when they get charged. Avon even teaches the representatives to keep the products and sell them on our own, so we don’t have to pay the shipping fee. See for yourself



Avon does not tell you that you must order your own inventory of products to sell. It’s your decision if you want to take the risk of purchasing items ahead of time and you take the responsibility for the money you might lose doing it. I don’t think it’s fair to call Avon a scam because they do not respond to business plans you made up the way you feel they should. That doesn’t make Avon a scam—it makes you stupid. Take 5 minutes and read the rules before investing hundreds or thousands of dollars trying to make Avon a get rich quick scheme.

If you follow the simple rules of Avon you should easily make your 10 dollars back, and enough to buy 10 more catalogs for the next campaign ($5.70).

That’s the only “catch” of Avon, the catalogs. You need them to sell Avon, but you have to buy them. The prices range from 10 for $5.70, 20 for $7.95, 30 for $10.20, etc , etc. Does that make it a scam? I don’t think so. Sure, it would be great if the catalogs were free, but that’s not very realistic. All in all Avon is good experience in running your own business, learning about business & make-up with online classes and just having a good time while making some extra money. To be perfectly honest most of the money I make from Avon gets spent on Avon & Mark Make-up and products. But, it’s kinda like, I get all my make-up for free—and that’s still pretty good for me.

Have a wonderful day

Lara

23 comments:

  1. Hello. I think you got price for the catalogs wrong. I just bought 10 catalogs for about $19. 10 is actually 100 they come in stack of 10. Very good post buy the way.

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  2. oh yeah, I guess its a little confusing. I meant 10 Brochures. That would be a pack of 1. You must have understood, 10 as a pack of 10. That would be 19$

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Hey Lara,

    I made a quick Blog post about you.

    How this girl above me AKOIRIF and a few other have stolen your look and even your articles.

    Check it out!

    http://1515isis.blogspot.com/

    Peace! Keep up the good work!

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  5. Hi Lara,

    I wanted to let you know that i never stole your look and i do apologize if you feel like i did. Please Visit her blog and compare the pictures. I have erased my blog because I don't need people like Isis being rude. Again i do apologize and also please erase my comment i made above where i put my website address i never did it with intension's to still customers. I really thought it was a good blog about Avon not being a scam since a lot of people think that and we know is not true.

    Thank you and please let me know if you have any questions.

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  6. I am sorry about that! Don't apologizes! It's mean and I don't care about those things anyway. I don't think anybody steals anything. Don't delete your blog just keep on going with what you doing :-P.

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  7. I was just reading that and I thought it was stupid of her to blame the company for her own ignorance. She could've called Avon customer support and they would help her with it. Buying $2000 worth of product is stupid if she doesn't even know if it will sell. AVON IS NOT A SCAM!

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  8. I am a customer service specialist for Avon represantatives since 2 years. I have worked in voice,email,district manager support and also order entry from India. It was not a single day that I was not surprised how Avon risks its own self to keep its representatives happy. With 2 years with the mechanism of Avon I believe Avon is a honest company. Please know that my comments are not paid by Avon infact Avon has not paid me a single cent till date as I am not on their payroll.

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  9. Avon rips our money, we pay them, and then we need to bring more people to pay them! so that the top the the Pyramid is richer every time another victim girl joins! I tried it once, was stupid! and I know the truth now.

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    1. First, a Avon representative does not have to recruit other representatives. It just makes sense to do so. I just went to a AVON RALLY August 2nd. Today I went door to door in my new home town. I met eleven wonderful women and three became customers. Most representatives don't go door to door, I do because my Grandmother (who is deceased) was in AVON 40 years. She loved Avon, the people and the social interactions and she loved Avon products. Pyramid schemes depend on getting new recruits. Avon is women helping women-we depend on us. It's a great organization. We can personally get involved in local charity or the Avon Breast Cancer and Prevent Domestic Violence causes. I'm proud to be part of this organization. It is not a get rich scheme. It's called "work" in different ways and media. Avon is a wonderful opportunity. Now you know the "truth".

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  10. For the readers reference, check this: http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/avon-products-c118733.html

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  11. i made 70 dollars on my 1st campaigne alone, and i barely tried to get customers. avon isnt a rip off, you are all just jelous that you dont know how to run your own business lol. GREAT ARTICLE!!

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    1. Congrats! I officially became a representative July 10th; although I have been surrounded by Avon representatives and customers through out my life.

      I just visited and shared the brochures. I had to set goals--turn off the computer and get into the community--I made $88.16 today in three hours. There is no secret to selling Avon if you love it. Nice to meet you Ashleigh!

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  12. Brilliant article. I've also read one article about the same topic.. and its also good. Read here.

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    1. Thanks Christine Eunice--I couldn't see the whole article because of my computer. But I did read about half. Thanks

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  13. Avon screwed me over. They sent me a box of goods valued at about £200 to try and sell. I couldn't sell it, I asked to return it.

    Several times they've told me it'll be picked up on a certain day, the delivery man never comes.

    They're still harassing with phone calls and letters and adding MORE money on to it because of the amount of time it's taking.

    I keep telling them that I will pay for items that actually sold once they return the goods that couldn't sell, but they never make an attempt to collect the box.

    It seems if you can't bring in enough customers, they'll try to squeeze all the money they can get out of you instead.

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    1. pocky, I think you can print out your shipping label on youravon.com when you process a return and leave it at the post office yourself which seems a lot more reliable than the method your trying. That must be stressful, but I hope this helps!

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    2. Thanks Adriana, that is the best course. I know if you return the products Avon takes them back and credits the Avon representative for the products returned. Products not returned are charged to the representative. Can you imagine what would happen if someone could order whatever and as much product as they wanted without recourse or checks and balances? Someone could have a store and never pay their vendors. Doesn't happen in business. I wish you well Pocky. I can see why it would be frustrating. Just mail the products back. Every business has to pay shipping--our own businesses and Avon.

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    3. I have been with Avon for 20 years. And through my experience there are a lot of NEW representatives that start and for what ever reason decide to stop. You need to pay your Avon bill or your account will be frozen! This is because of the high volume of scammers trying to get something for nothing. Once your bill/campaign is paid you can move on to the next campaign in which your return can be refunded or exchanged.
      You can do this by post office or your local delivery driver. If you have stopped selling than you need to purchase the return label from Avon. The local delivery has no reason to come to your door without merchandise. I have on occasion (if I missed delivery day) gone to my local courier so as to get my products back in time. I have always received my refund. There is a time limit in which you need to return your merchandise or there will be a charge back.

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  14. Thank you so much! Am so happy I read this. I also want to add that AVON is a great foundation helping women all over the world. I am about to join the company too as a Representative; I was almost discouraged by the negative things online about them, but am glad I came across your post. Thanks again,
    Iro.

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  15. Interesting thread. Here's what pyramid expert John M. Taylor said about it: www.isavonascam.com

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    1. John M. Taylor has a very wide definition of a pyramid scheme. He reminds me of a ambulance chasing lawyer. He must not be aware that it's only $10 to start an Avon business & you get your website for free. The only on-going fee is your shipping/one simple fee that ranges from $5.95 to $9.95 a month. If you choose to distribute catalogs or samples, you buy those. On each order, you collect a 75 cent order processing charge that goes toward your expenses. It's not much but adds up. No one has to do recruiting...I just started a year ago. I have many successful reps that make all their money from selling.
      I have been doing Avon for 3 years. I have more than 200 customers & over 70 reps under me. I have worked my fanny off (literally...down 69 pounds). I absolutely LOVE what I do. It has been good for me physically as well as emotionally & financially.
      We can all be "victims" of our life experiences & blame someone else for our actions. Or we can take charge of our own lives, work hard & reap our harvest.
      The best way to start an Avon business is to grab on to a successful rep and learn from their lives. Then again, isn't that how we succeed in most areas of our lives by emulating the successful?

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  16. I used to sell AVON in my younger years in highschool and right out of highschool. I didnt realize then, that in order to make the real money, I would have to build a team. I just figured I would have the money pouring in from my own sales. I didnt realize as an AVON rep, you are essentially a business “franchise” who makes most of their money off of your other business “franchises” you mentor. However, I do not like that you NEED to buy catalogs to stay active. I do not like that you need to sell $50 in commission before you see any money to your name. Just is not fair, seeing as to how the products are cheap, and it may take a few items to reach that $50.

    Since then, I have partnered up with a company that has amazing natural ingredient based makeup and anti aging beauty products. They are also crueltry free, vegan, gluten free, hypoallergenic, organic infused, and mineral based; appealing to a wide clientele. I paid a one time $99 to start my business. With this, i recieved a kit worth $218, free training, a free website, and clearence to sell product globally.

    I have researched how to make money within of direct sales. The best book I have came across explaining how to work the business model to produce real results is by Millionaire Direct Sales Entrepreneur Sarah Robbins. Her book is "How to Rock Your Network Marketing Business".

    82% of women whom are making 6 figures and more a year in the US are doing so through a home based business. When you are working within a direct sales company, you are a business owner. You file taxes like a business owner, gaining amazing tax write offs...because well, you are a business owner! You can call yourself many things. An "affiliate" of the company. A "direct Sales rep" of the company. But when it comes down to it, you are now a business owner within of the company; something like a franchise owner. Except your type of "franchise" is making money off of all the "franchises" you mentor. Pretty smart if you ask me.

    If you become interested in learning about what I do, and how you can join me in the fastest growing direct sales company to date in the world; I can be reached at lashdollhouse@gmail.com

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